Metamorph
by Oonagh
Summary: Missing scene from 'Revelations'. Delenn's moment of truth arrives. Did her genetic gamble pay off? Has she become the humanminbari link? Or has something gone badly wrong?
1. Chapter 1

Metamorph

By Oonagh

Disclaimer: I do not own Babylon 5 and I am making no profit from this story.

Author's Note: This story is set during 'Revelations' and it theorises about all the Delenn scenes we didn't get to see on the show. Please read and review.

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When Delenn first opened her eyes it took a while for awareness to return and before it did she began to panic. She couldn't see but she could feel mucus in her nose and in her mouth. She opened her eyes and still couldn't see. Her panic grew and she began to struggle, pushing her arms and legs against whatever it was that was holding her in place. She tried to call out for Lenier – uncertain to whom the name belonged but knowing that he was someone who would help – but the action allowed more mucus to seep into her mouth and so she stopped trying to talk and concentrated on trying to move. The physical activity kicked her neurons into action and memory came flooding back.

Delenn. Her name was Delenn. And Lenier was her aide. Her friend. With memory came the realisation that panic wasn't necessary. She knew was she was now – in her cocoon. And – since she was obviously still alive – her metamorphosis must have been successful. A huge swell of relief washed over her at that thought. Delenn had lived all her life faithful to the precepts of her religion. She believed in the prophecies absolutely and without doubt. But, even with her faith to support her, the decision to be the first of her kind to attempt this transformation had been a daunting one and she had been a little frightened that it would not work. This concern wasn't based on a fear that the prophecy was incorrect but rather on a fear that she would make a mistake, do something wrong, or that she had misread everything and that the prophecy wasn't intended for her, that the belief that she should be the one to undergo this change was nothing but arrogance. But obviously those fears had been unfounded.

Still blinded by darkness and mucus, Delenn methodically began to knock down the walls of her chrysalis. After only a few seconds she felt cool air against her face and moments after that she broke free and lay on the floor, gasping breathlessly. Then she sat up and began wiping the mucus from her nose and mouth. She noted the rough feel of her hands against her mouth with surprise – she had never imagined that the skin of humans would be so coarse. Once she was certain that her face was relatively clear of the foul-smelling mucus Delenn opened her eyes, allowed them to slowly adjust to the light and then looked around. Her quarters looked unchanged, with the exception of the votive candles Lenier had left burning in front of the now destroyed cocoon. Delenn lifted a hand to pinch out the flames but then stopped short, her arm raised in front of her head.

It _hadn't_ worked. The metamorphosis had failed, had gone terribly, horribly wrong. She stared in horror at the crusty, green-black coating that covered her arm. What had she turned into? Where had her blind arrogance led her? With a hoarse cry Delenn closed her eyes once more and, rocking back and forth, began to pray.

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Author's Note: There is more written so please review and let me know if you think I should post it. Thanks.


	2. Chapter 2

Metamorph

By Oonagh

Disclaimer: See chapter one.

Author's Note: Please review, tell me if you liked it or hated it.

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Eventually Delenn's innate self-control kicked in and she picked herself up off the ground. She headed straight for her sleeping quarters and selected the most modest robe she could find, pulling the hood up so that it fully covered her face. Then she sat down on the sofa in the living area. She knew she needed help but she could not bring herself to leave her quarters and walk among the other residents of Babylon 5. Not looking like this. Delenn had never thought of herself as vain. Her appearance had always married very little – as long as she was clean, neat and tidy she was happy. If anyone had ever asked Delenn would have told them that beauty comes from the inside, from the heart and the soul. But, despite this, one brief glance in her bedroom mirror had convinced her that she didn't want anyone to see her like this. She could imagine the looks that everyone would cast, the stares that would be directed at her hideous deformity. And so Delenn sat on the sofa, legs curled beneath her, and awaited Lenier's return. She knew he would not leave the candles burning unattended for very long and so she did not expect to have to wait long.

And that was a good thing. Delenn was an intelligent, well-educated Minbari and she knew that her external appearance was the least of her worries. The procedure she had undergone would have –even if it had been successful – placed a huge physical strain on her body. Delenn had known that going in, known that even if everything went exactly as it ought to there was a good chance that the changes would be too great for her body to accept. That she would die and the weight of prophecy would fall on the shoulders of another. Delenn had no illusions about her place in the universe. The obvious failure of her metamorphosis suggested that perhaps even greater harm than that expected had been done to her physiology. Delenn was very much afraid that she was dying. Thoughts of her mortality – and exactly how death would come, fast and clean or slow and painful – occupied her mind fully until she heard the door to her quarters slide open. Lenier stepped through and she opened her mouth to call his name but no sound came out. She watched him walk over to the empty chrysalis while she swallowed furiously and struggled to speak.

"Lenier." Her voice, when it finally worked, seemed unnaturally quiet and unsure to her ears. She remembered sounding more confident. Her aide turned toward her, squinting through the gloom, unable to make her out due to her dark robe. Delenn knew she was merely the deepest shadow among many in the room. That thought grieved her. All her life she had stood tall against the shadow and now she was using it to hide in, using it to protect her vanity. She was suddenly ashamed of her fear of people's reactions to her appearance. She called Lenier's name again and moved slightly so that he could locate her.

"Delenn." The joy and relief in Lenier's voice almost made Delenn laugh. She had always enjoyed irony.

"Delenn, I am so glad you are awake. I was starting to grow quite concerned. You had been in there a long time, much longer than I had expected. And much has happened recently that you need to know about. I am not equipped to deal with it. I fear I have already taken several mis-steps." Lenier spoke quickly as he moved across the room towards his mentor who waited silently in the dark. In the dark… Suddenly that thought penetrated and Lenier realised that something was wrong.

"Delenn, are you alright? Why is the light off."

"I am alive Lenier. To that extent the change was successful. But it did not work quite as I expected. I…I am not certain what I have become, Lenier." Despite her best efforts Delenn's voice quivered slightly and she had to force herself to push her sleeve up and show Lenier the flaky crust that coated her arm. Lenier gasped. He reached out as though to touch it but Delenn quickly moved her arm away.

"I will call the physician immediately, Delenn." Lenier stood up and moved toward the comm. unit. Delenn silently thanked him for not trying to talk about it. Lenier always seemed to know exactly what she needed.

"Call Doctor Franklin, not the Minbari physician."

"But the humans know little of Minbari physiology."

"I am no longer wholly Minbari, Lenier. I think that much is clear. I am unique and Doctor Franklin is as well equipped to deal with that as anybody else. Also, I trust his discretion and know that he is one of those rare creatures that seem to have absolutely no prejudices. He will treat me now exactly as he always did. I did this to become more human, to become a bridge between our peoples. Now is as good a time as any to begin that role." The short speech exhausted Delenn and she began coughing. Despite her positive words to Lenier, despite painting for him a picture of her role in the future, Delenn still believed that she had little time left. She trusted Doctor Franklin to tell her the unvarnished truth without judging her. He would allow her to keep her dignity. And, at the moment, death with dignity was the best she could hope for.


	3. Chapter 3

Metamorph 3

By Oonagh

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Doctor's Franklin responded promptly to Lenier's request, which didn't surprise Delenn at all. He had always struck her as a man who worked hard, perhaps too hard, and who took his work seriously. Even now, as he prodded at the crust on her arm, his expression registered only puzzlement. And for that Delenn was grateful. She had to fight the urge to hold her breath while he examined her, waiting for the awful moment when he declaimed her fate. But that moment never came. Instead, Doctor Franklin peeled a small portion of the crust away. Then he jerked his hand back, afraid that he'd hurt her. She was unable to answer his question as to whether that was supposed to happen but she reassured him that it had not hurt.

Tentatively, he reached his hand forward again and removed a larger strip. Then he examined her arm again, holding it close to his face so that he could see it clearly through the gloom.

"It looks like there's skin under here, Ambassador." Delenn looked at him for a moment, confused, and he clarified.

"Healthy, new skin. I think that maybe this crust is merely some kind of protective covering. Is that possible?"

"I really do not know, Doctor. The scrolls which told of this use for the triluminary did not speak in detail of the results. They merely dealt with the final transformation and even then were more concerned with the spiritual than the physical." Doctor Franklin took a deep breath before speaking again.

"I think the best thing we can do is to remove the crust and see what happens. Are you well enough to walk to med lab or should I call a medical team?"

"No! Please, Doctor Franklin, may we do what has to be done here?"

"I'd feel better if I had you somewhere where I had more equipment, Ambassador."

"I would rather it was done here, in privacy." Delenn's tone told Doctor Franklin that further argument would be fruitless and so he nodded, reluctantly.

"Please stand up and remove your robe, Ambassador. With Lenier's assistance this should not take too long."

"Lenier's assistance? No…"

"I will not do this on my own, Ambassador. Too many things could go wrong." Delenn closed her eyes and nodded. She stood up and let her robe fall to the floor. Then she took several steps forward and raised her arms out to her sides. Doctor Franklin nodded in satisfaction and he gestured to Lenier to begin removing the crust. Lenier did so hesitantly, eyes averted.

To Delenn the procedure seemed to take hours. She stood unmoving, naked and tried to pretend that the two men were not there. Appearing naked in public was, for a Minbari, inexpressibly humiliating. If convicted of a serious crime, such as treason, a Minbari would be paraded naked through the streets of all the main cities, allowing the people to see his shame exposed. Minbari did not kill Minbari but, Delenn knew, they had devised some punishments that would make death appear a welcome escape. And right now the humiliation of her current position – naked in front of two men, one of them a human – almost caused Delenn to long for death. But she kept her eyes closed and endured. There was nothing else for it. This had, after all, been her choice and she must take the consequences.


	4. Chapter 4

Metamorph 4

By Oonagh

Author's Note: Sorry for the update delay. My computer caught a virus and was really quite ill for a while. He's feeling better now, though, and things are getting back to normal.

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As soon as Doctor Franklin and Lenier finished feeling the crust from her skin Delenn returned to her bedchamber, leaving Lenier to thank the doctor and show him out. She knew this behaviour was reprehensible – the rituals of hospitality were very important in Minbari society – but she had been unable to stand naked in front of the two men for any longer. She would pay her debt of honour to Doctor Franklin at another time.

Slipping the robe from her shoulders, Delenn stood in front of her full-length mirror and took in her new appearance. The changes were startling. She stroked her hand over her hair, amazed at its softness, at how it changed the look of her face. Turning slowly, she fully examined her new body. She wasn't as frightened by what she saw as she had feared she would be. But then again, the changes to her outward appearance were by far the least significant of the many changes that had occurred while she hibernated.

Doctor Franklin had scanned her repeatedly while removing the crust and had kept up an almost constant litany of physiological changes. Her reproductive system had been significantly altered. She was secreting different hormones. Her circulatory system had undergone several changes. Her brain chemistry was like nothing the experienced physician had ever seen before. In short, Delenn-that-was-now was a very different creature from Delenn-that-had-been.

But at least she was alive and – according to Doctor Franklin – was likely to remain alive for the foreseeable future. She had succeeded. Prophecy was fulfilled. And now the hard work could begin. In an attempt to keep her mind from her shame Lenier had filled her in on all the recent changes on board Babylon 5 and in the wider universe. The disappearance of G'Kar; the death of the Earth president; the shooting of Security Chief Garibaldi; Ambassador Mollari's attempts to dissolve the Babylon 5 advisory committee and, of greatest immediate importance, the transfer of Commander Sinclair and his replacement by Captain John Sheridan, Star Killer.

Even without the aid of prophecy Delenn could see that much hard work lay ahead. And even then success was not guaranteed. The shadow was powerful, more so than at any time in the last thousand years, and growing more powerful with each passing day. And the forces of light were untested, divided and ignorant. They knew nothing of the threat under which they were currently living. They knew nothing of the roles they had to play if the light was to be victorious. The importance of Babylon 5 in the coming fight was clearly emphasised in the prophecies and Delenn had felt confident that Sinclair could, and would, play his destined role well. But Captain Sheridan…Captain Sheridan was an unknown quantity. Delenn just hoped the universe knew what it was doing.

Running her hands over the baby-smooth skin of her new body one more time, Delenn walked to wardrobe and began to dress. There were changes coming that would affect everybody, this Delenn knew. But whether the effects would be for good or ill remained to be seen. But Delenn also knew, instinctively, that only evil would come if she didn't play her role. And that role began today, with the first appearance of Delenn-that-was-now at the council, and it was imperative that she get off to a good start. Because, Delenn knew, first appearances truly did count. And so Delenn took great care in choosing what she should wear, anxious to create an impression, to draw attention to herself so that she could say what needed to be said and know that people would be listening.


	5. Chapter 5

I know this is kind of breaking the rules but I could think of no other way to let people know what's going on with this story.

I recently started a new job and I have to undergo 1 month of residential training. I didn't realise until I got there that I would have absolutely no internet access whatsoever. Even this little paragraph is being posted by someone else.

This means that although the story is still being written (it's almost finished actually) I will probably not be able to post anything for another three weeks. I apologise for this and thank you for your patience. Please don't give up on the story because of the delay.

I promise I will resume posting as soon as possible and ask that until then you bear with me.

Thank-you,

Oonagh


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